Music-leaf turner.



W.W. DUCK. MUSIC LEAF TURNER. I APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1910.

981,250. Patented 111111011911; 1

2 sums-111111121 1.

n H J b 1 I y l I Attorneys W. W. DUCK.

MUSIC LEAF TURNER,

APPLICATION PILEDJULY 6, 1910.

Patented J an. 10, 1911.

2 SHEETS-41121 2.

Wi esses Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM W. DUCK, OF STILLWATER, OKLAHOMA.

MUSIC-LEAF TURNER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VILLIAM W. DUCK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stillwater, in the county of Payne and State of Oklahoma,have invented a new and useful MusicLeaf Turner, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to music leaf turners and its object is toprovide a device of this character which is comparatively simple inconstruction and which can be readily operated for the purpose ofturning a sheet of music in either direction desired, the mechanismbeing easily controlled.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which can bereadily applied to a piano or other instrument.

\Vith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter morefully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :Figure l is a front elevation of the device, portionsof the attached frame being broken away, and the base board and ledgebeing removed. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through a portion of thedevice and showing one of the spindles and cooperating parts inelevation. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of one of the spools, thespindle therein being shown in section. Fig. 1 is an enlarged elevationof a spool and showing the arrangement of a cord thereon.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates theback board of the body of the device, there being arms 2 ex tending inopposite directions from the sides thereof and merging into parallelside rods 3 which are connected. at their lower ends by a cross strip4:. This strip is detachably secured. to the side members .3 and stems 5are swiveled within said side members close to the lower ends thereofand carry clamps 6, each of which is preferably formed of pivotallyconnected members, there being a clamping screw 7 or the like engagingthe free ends of the clamps so that, after the clamps have been placedaround the for wardly extending base strips such as found at the side ofa piano or the like, they can be readily tightened upon said strips soas to secure the mechanism to a piano.

It is to be understood that the strip 4: is to be extended transverselyunder the piano Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 5, 1910.

Patented Jan. 10, 1911.

Serial No. 570,481.

and close to the pedals while the back-board 1 is to rest upon theordinary music lid found above the keyboard.

A T-shaped pedal 8 is pivotally mounted upon the strip a adjacent thecenter thereof and has a rod 10 secured to it and also to a bell cranklever 11 which is fulcrumed on one of the side members 3. A rod 12connects this bell crank lever with another bell crank lever 13fulcrumcd upon one end portion of one of the side members 3 and having arod 1 1 pivotally attached to it. This rod is pivotally connected to oneend of a rack bar 15 which is slidably mounted on guide brackets 16secured to the front face of the board 1.

' A hearing strip 17 is secured to the board 1 adjacent the top thereofand journaled within this strip are the upper ends of spindles 18, 19,20, 21 and 22 which converge downwardly, and bear, adjacent their lowerends, within a strip 23 secured to the board 1. These spindles aregrouped adjacent the longitudinal center of the board 1 and each spindleis provided, near its upper end, with a spool 24; having spaced annulargrooves 25 and 26 therein, said grooves communicating through alongitudinal groove or recess 27. An annular flange 28 is formed at thelower end of each spool and has two recesses 29 and 30 extendingthereinto as clearly indicated in Fig. 3.

Bearing or housing strips 31 are secured to the board 1 at oppositesides of the group of spindles 18 to 22 and mounted between each ofthese housing strips and the board 1 is a series of gears 32. Thesegears all mesh with the rack bar 15 and spring arms 33, 34;, 35, 36 and37 extend upwardly from the peripheries of the gears of one series,while spring arms 33, 3e, 35, 36, and 37 extend upwardly from theperipheries of the 32 of the other series, each arm being substantiallyradially disposed relative to its gear. The arms 33 and 33 are connectedby a cord 38 which is wrapped about the spool 21 on spindle 18 and isseated within the two grooves 25 and 26 and within the groove 27 in saidspindle, there being a set screw 39 or the like located within thegroove 27 and which serves to both secure the cord to the spool and alsoto fasten the spool to its spindle. Another cord 40 connects the springarms 31 and 31 with the spool 19 and a cord 4-1 connects the spring arms35 and 35 with the spool 20. The other arms are similarly connected withthe remaining spools.

Each ot the spindles 18 to 22 inclusive extends below the board 1 and isprovided, at its lower end, with an arm hingedly connected to it andnormally supported, substantially at right angles thereto, by means of aspring i in extension 44- is hingedly connected to the free end of eachof the arms 12 and is held normally substantially at right angles to thearnnby means "ta spring 415. A spring clip #16 arranged at the free end01? the extension 11 and is adapted to eng gethe lower edge of a sheetofmusic. These arms l and their extensions at are arranged beyond theboard 1 and are adapted to swing toward either side of said board whenthe spindles are rotated in one direction or the other.

Arranged within the board 1 directly back of each of the spools 2-1. alocking bolt 17 pivotally connected to a bell crank lever 18. 11 rod 1extends down 'ardly from the bell crank lever and is connected to alever fulcrumed upon a cross rod 51. This rod is supported by hangers 52depending from the board 1 and each lever 50 has a key 53 at its frontend. A. spring 54; may be connected to each rod 4-9, said. springbearing upwardly against the bracket and serving to hold the bolt -17normally projected into one of the recesses or notches 29 and 30. \Vhenthe bolt st? is seated within one of the notches. the arm extending fromthe spindle of said spool will be held extended to the right or theboard 1 whereas, when the bolt 17 is seated within the other notch orrecess, said arm or the spindle will be extended toward the oppositeside of the board.

-1 face board 54' extends in front of the spindles, spring arms, andbearing members and is secured in any preferred manner to 'he board 1,the two boards thus serving to house the parts mentioned and to protectthem iii-c111 injury. This face board has a ledge 57 Xtending :torv-iardfrom the bottom portion thereof and on which the sheet music to beturned may be placed. ll hen it is de sired to use the mechanism hereindescribed, the board 1 is placed upon the music ledge of a piano orsimilar instrinnent and the side members 3 are extended downwardly alongthe sides of the instrument and attached to the lower portions ot thesides thereot by means of the clamps (3. By pressing downwardly on thelett side of the pedal 9, the bell crank lever 11 will be caused to pulldownwardly on the lever 13 and the rack bar 15 will therefore be movedto the right. its the various spools 2-1: are held against rotation bythe bolts 17, it will be seen that when all of the gears 32 are rotatedby the rack during its movement, the arms 83 to i11- clusive will beswung toward the spindles 18 to 22 inclusive, while the arms 33 to 37inclusive will be held at their upper ends by the cords connected tothem and will, therefore, be bowed or placed under stress. Thoseportions of the cord to the right of the spools will become slack as aresult of the swinging oi the arms 3 to 37 inclusive. lVith the partsthus adjusted the keys 7123 can he successively or simultaneously deiressed, thus releasing the spools and the springs 21 1 to 37 willtherefore pull on their cords and cause the spools to rotate and thustake up the slack in said cords and swing the arms 12 to ard the otherside of the board 1. The sheets of music can then be placed on the ledgeand inserted into the clips to, the first sheet engaging the clip oi.the forward arm and the other clips being in engagement with theremaining sheets in proper order. Pedal 9 can then be depressed towardthe right and will push against the bell crank lever 11 through rod 10and rod 12 will thus swing upward] y against bell crank lever 13 andshiftthe rack 'bar 15 to the left of the board 1. As the spools are heldagainst rotation by the bolts 17, the gears 32, when rotated by the rackbar 15, will how the arms 32-3 to 37 inclusive because the upper ends ofsaid arms are held by the cords. At the same time the arms 33 to :37will be swung toward the spindles so as to slacken the cords between thearms and the spools. hen it is desired to turn the first sheet of nusicthe key 53 controlling the spool to which the first arm is operativelyconnected. is depressed and the bolt 17 thus disengaged from the spool.The spring arm co1n'1ccted to said spool is thus released and willpromptly shift its cord so as to rotate the spool and cause the armconnected to the spindle thereof, to swing to its other posi tion, thuscarrying the sheet therewith. The other sheets can be successivelyturned in the same manner, by depressing the proper keys. Should it be,desired, at any time, to move a sheet back to its initial position forthe purpose of repeating the music thereon, it becomes merely necessaryto shift the pedal 9 so as to place the opposite series of arms 33 to 37inclusive under stress and then depress the proper key so as to causethe spool and the arms movable therewith, to turn in the desireddirection.

Various changes can of course. be made in the construction andarrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit orsacrificing any oft the ad vantages ot the i11- vention as defined inthe appended claims.

hat is claimed is 1. A music leaf turner including a revoluble member,opposed upstanding resilient actuating devices, a flexible connection bctween said devices and the member said connection being wrapped aboutthe member means for holding said member against movement means forplacing either of said devices under stress, and means for releasing therevoluble member.

2. A music leaf turner including a revoluble member, opposed upstandingresilient actuating devices, means for bowing either of said devices toplace it under stress, locking means normally engaging the-revolublemember, and a flexible element secured at its ends to said devices andwrapped at an intermediate point about the revoluble member.

A music leaf turner including a revoluble member, opposed upstandingactuating devices, a flexible connection between said devices, saidconnection being attached to and wrapped about said revoluble member,means for storing energy in either of said devices, means forautomatically locking either member against rotation, and means forreleasing said member.

4. A music leaf turner including a revoluble member, opposed actuatingdevices, flexible connections between said devices and the member andwrapped about said member, means for simultaneously shifting saiddevices to store energy within one of the devices to hold taut itsflexible connection and to slacker. the other connection and relieve themember from the action of the other device, means for holding the memberagainst movement and means for releasing said member.

A music leaf turner including revoluble members, leaf engaging devicesmovable therewith, spaced series of actuating springs, a flexibleconnection between each revoluble member and one spring of each series,said connection being wrapped about the revoluble member, means forplacing the two series of springs under stress alternately, means forlocking the revoluble members against rotation, and means for releasingsaid members.

G. A music leaf turner including revoluble members, leaf engagingdevices movable therewith, spaced series of actuating springs, aflexible connection between each member and a spring of each series,said connection being wrapped about the revoluble member, means foralternately placing the springs of the two series under stress, alocking bolt engaging each of the members to hold it against rotation,and means for shifting the bolt to release the member.

7 A music leaf turner including spindles, spools revoluble therewith,leaf engaging devices carried by the spindles, spaced series ofactuating devices, a flexible connection between each spool and one ofthe actuating devices in each series, means for alternately setting thetwo series of devices to store energy therein, means for locking thespools against movement, and means for releasing the spools.

8. A music leaf turner including spindles, spools secured thereto, leafengaging devices connected to the spindles, spaced series of gears,spring arms extending from the gears, a flexible connection between eachspool and an arm of each series, means for simultaneously actuating allof the gears to place the arms of one series under stress and to removethe stress of the arms of the other series, means for locking the spoolsagainst rotation, and means for unlocking said spools to permit theiractuation by the tensioned springs.

9. A music leaf turner including revoluble members, music leaf engagingdevices movable therewith, spaced series of resilient actuating devices,a connection between each revoluble member and one of the devices ineach series, a slid-able element, means operated thereby for alternatelyplacing the actuating devices of the two series alternately understress, a foot operated device, and means operated thereby for shiftingsaid element to place either of said series under stress.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM W'. DUCK.

Witnesses R. H. Moonn, R. H. DE BIRD.

